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russia elections 2018

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President Donald Trump has called Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his electoral victory two days ago.

Donald Trump said they would meet in the “not too distant future” to discuss limiting a growing arms race, Ukraine and Syria.

Vladimir Putin was re-elected by a landslide, with 76.68% of the vote, for a fourth six-year term.

There was no strong challenger, with the main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, barred from the race.

According to European observers, the poll was conducted efficiently, but there was a lack of genuine choice.

President Trump said the arms race between the US and Russia was “getting out of control… but we will never allow anybody to have anything close to what we have”.

Image NBC News

Russia Elections 2018: Vladimir Putin Seeks Fourth Term in Office

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According to the Washington Post, citing officials it said were familiar with the matter, the call was made despite warnings from the president’s security advisers, who provided a briefing which included a section that read “DO NOT CONGRATULATE”.

During the call, President Trump did not mention the issue that has sparked growing Western tensions with Russia – the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK.

The UK government blamed the nerve agent attack on Moscow, which denies any involvement.

The Kremlin said the conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was “constructive and business-like”, adding that Russia hoped to “overcome problems” that had arisen between the two nations.

Senator John McCain criticized President Trump over the call, saying in a statement: “An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country’s future, including the countless Russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist Putin’s regime.”

On March 20, EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker also wrote a letter of congratulations to Vladimir Putin, pledging to “always be a partner” in improving security co-operation with the Kremlin.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among the first Western leaders to “warmly congratulate” the Russian leader on March 19 – a day after his re-election – stressing the need to continue dialogue “to address important bilateral and international challenges and find viable solutions”.

French President Emmanuel Macron wished Vladimir Putin success in “modernizing Russia”, but urged Moscow to shed light on the “unacceptable” attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in the UK.

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Russians go to polls in fresh presidential election, in which incumbent President Vladimir Putin is seeking a fourth term in office.

Voting began in the Russian far-east at 20:00 GMT on March 17, and opened in Moscow nine hours later.

The first results will arrive in the evening. Vladimir Putin has been Russia’s dominant leader since 1999, either as president or prime minister.

Image source Wikimedia

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The incumbent president is hoping for another six-year term and faces seven other candidates.

Vladimir Putin’s rivals include a millionaire communist, Pavel Grudinin, a former reality TV host, Ksenia Sobchak and veteran nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

Alexei Navalny, the main opposition leader, has been prohibited from standing, because of a fraud conviction that he said was politically motivated.

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Russia suggests that an expected US report that could sanction Kremlin-linked oligarchs is an attempt to influence its March presidential election.

The treasury department report is expected to detail the closeness of senior Russian political figures and oligarchs to President Vladimir Putin, who is standing for re-election.

US officials accuse Russia of meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations.

President Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the forthcoming report would be analyzed.

During 2017, President Donald Trump enacted new sanctions on Russia but he accused Congress of overreaching itself and preventing him from easing penalties on Russia in the future.

President Trump has repeatedly rejected any allegations that his campaign staff colluded with Russia to help him defeat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton at the November 2016 presidential election.

The allegations voiced by the US intelligence community are currently being investigated by Congress and Robert Mueller.

Dmitry Peskov said the US report was a “direct and obvious attempt to influence the elections” on March 18.

However, the spokesman added that he was sure the list would not affect the vote.

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The Kremlin has pledged to help limit further damage to Russian oligarchs and businesses that could be on the list.

In 2018, President Vladimir Putin reportedly met top businessmen behind closed doors to discuss the issue.

Vladimir Putin is seen as the clear favorite to win the March elections.

His main opposition rival, Alexei Navalny, has been barred from standing in the race.

Alexei Navalny was briefly detained during a protest rally on January 28.

The US treasury department has to finalize the document on January 29, after which it is expected to hand the report over to Congress.

It is not known whether the names of those on the list will be publicly revealed or kept secret or indeed how many people and entities are on the list.

Being on the list does not automatically trigger sanctions but such penalties could be activated any time later by the United States.

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